Chapter 2157 – 2157. Eternal Eden
Lee Yebin was content with her current life.
Even though her life was constantly threatened by zombies and monsters, she was somehow managing to survive. Parasites? They were annoying, but she didn’t think they were extremely dangerous. They didn’t possess the kind of overwhelming power that made monsters so difficult to deal with. If she had reliable guards nearby, the parasites couldn’t touch her.
And she had her ability. The power to control people. It didn’t work well on women, and for some men, it only made them feel a bit of affection… but most men were completely captivated by her. They would fall in love with her and give her everything, their liver and gall included.
‘The ability to make men love me. It didn’t work on Sung Yoojin, probably because she’s an Awakened, but… other men love me.’
Lee Yebin didn’t know her ability was a pheromone power. She simply perceived it as the power to make men love her.
Thanks to this ability, she could live a life of luxury even in this half-ruined world. Men would shower her with luxury goods and food. Satisfying her sexual desires was no problem either. Turning young, handsome men into horny dogs was a piece of cake.
For her, Saetbyeol Apartment was her kingdom. Kang Sanggi and Woo Taehyun, the representatives of the residents, were a bit annoying, but ultimately, they were in the palm of her hand.
‘My original plan was to make Sung Yoojin my slave…’
News about Sung Yoojin kept appearing on the internet and in the news. A superhuman who killed monsters, a hero. The public praised Sung Yoojin without knowing her true nature.
‘If my ability had worked on Sung Yoojin, I would have had Sungak Elementary School too.’
She had used her ability on Sung Yoojin several times.
On the day they first met, it seemed to have some effect. But as time passed, it became less effective. Just now, she had used her ability on Sung Yoojin, and there was no reaction at all.
‘It’s not too late. Let’s hold out in Saetbyeol Apartment. The government will take care of the monsters. After that, we’ll accept new residents. If I step in, the number of residents will increase as much as I want.’
In the worst-case scenario, she could just leave for another place.
Lee Yebin was confident she could live well anywhere.
Lee Yebin went down to the first floor and looked at Kang Sanggi and Woo Taehyun. She used her ability. Unfortunately, these two weren’t the type to fall head over heels for her. Still, they would feel some affection for her. The fact that their stiff faces relaxed was proof of that.
“It’s a shame to part like this. How about we have a meal together, just the three of us, for the first time in a while?”
Woo Taehyun openly showed his ulterior motives. He was aggressive, probably because he was young. His eyes were filled with sticky lust. Lee Yebin swallowed a sneer. She knew that Woo Taehyun was hitting on Irina. His obsession was so strong that her ability didn’t work well on him because of Irina. But now he was showing this reaction?
‘Am I a substitute for him? Is he crazy?’
Woo Taehyun was out. He didn’t deserve to be her man. And there were plenty of men like Woo Taehyun.
“Let’s have dinner later. You know the atmosphere isn’t good right now.”
“That’s true. Building 101 is having a hard time. Irina’s absence is especially noticeable. There are already people saying what if monsters come into the apartment.”
There had been a few times in the past when monsters had tried to enter the apartment. Each time, Irina had shot arrows to keep them at bay. It was also thanks to Irina that they were able to safely deal with the zombies that had overrun the apartment and the surrounding area in the early days of the crisis. Irina was the hero of Saetbyeol Apartment.
‘We were close, like sisters… but she went to Sung Yoojin without saying a word to me. She acted all high and mighty… she’s just a slut after all. She switched sides as soon as she got the chance. She probably spread her legs for Sung Yoojin too, that bitch.’
It was a good thing. It was also an opportunity to control men who were so infatuated with Irina’s beauty that her ability didn’t work well on them, like Woo Taehyun.
“There’s nothing we can do about Irina. You guys in Building 101 tried to kill her.”
“We didn’t try to kill her. If you guys had just voted properly…! Irina would have been safe and grateful to me!”
“Don’t raise your voice! Where do you think you are, raising your voice?! Don’t try to blame us for your mistakes!”
“My mistakes? You’re the ones who didn’t keep your promise!!”
The atmosphere between Woo Taehyun and Kang Sanggi became tense. Building 101 and Building 103. They still didn’t get along. If it weren’t for Lee Yebin, they wouldn’t even be facing each other like this.
“Calm down, both of you. That’s not the problem right now. Irina’s situation is regrettable, but it’s already in the past. We need to think about the future, right?”
“…Yebin is right. We need to think about the future. So, I was wondering… shouldn’t we kill Sung Yoojin? We can do it if we join forces. And then we can get Irina back. I’ll persuade Irina.”
Woo Taehyun still hadn’t given up on his obsession with Irina. Seeing him grind his teeth, it seemed like it had gotten even worse. Lee Yebin felt disgusted by Woo Taehyun but didn’t show it and continued to speak.
“Now’s not the time for that. What we need to do right now is overcome the crisis that has befallen Saetbyeol Apartment. The most urgent thing is the parasites.”
“…I guess so. Those bastards kill people every day.”
“It seems like there aren’t many parasites in Building 101….”
“We have to stop the parasites. They think like humans, so they’ll know that Sung Yoojin has abandoned us… and they’ll become more active. So, let’s each vote to find and kill the parasites.”
“That’s not a bad plan. There were a few guys on our side who were suspected of being parasites.”
“There’s also someone in our Building 101 who is suspected of being a parasite. I’m in favor of the vote.”
Half of those they suspected were people who were dissatisfied with them. They would use this opportunity to frame them as parasites and execute them. Then their power would become even stronger.
There was only one problem left. The food problem.
Lee Yebin looked directly at Kang Sanggi and opened her mouth. She was using her ability to the fullest. Kang Sanggi’s gaze felt hot.
“I know that Building 103 has a lot of food. Please share some of your stockpiled food. We should help each other as neighbors in the same apartment.”
“Ha, well. I’d like to, but… we don’t have that much stockpiled food.”
“You still have to share. The other buildings are in worse shape than Building 103. We should help each other as residents of the same apartment.”
“I’m telling you, we don’t have any food! And even though your food supply has decreased, it’s not like you don’t have any food at all. It’s not like you’re not getting food support. Food isn’t a serious problem.”
“Where’s that dog barking? I heard that Building 103 has enough food to feed the entire apartment for two weeks.”
“Dog? Is this bastard crazy? We don’t have any food. You guys in Building 101 act all nice, but do you think we don’t know about all the shady things you do behind our backs? Do you know that most of the guys who hit on the women in our building are from Building 101? Huh?!”
Lee Yebin looked at Kang Sanggi’s stubborn face and sensed the future. Building 103 would not provide food to Building 101, even if it meant fighting with them.
‘I need to get support from Building 102 at least. I’ll have to talk to them separately later.’
Frankly speaking, the future of Building 101 was bleak. Woo Taehyun was the real power in Building 101, but Irina had a certain amount of popularity and acted as a focal point. Her archery skills were real. But what about Woo Taehyun? He was somewhat smart, but it was difficult for him to become the focal point for the entire Building 101.
‘The number of people in Building 102 has decreased because of the parasites. I need to accept people from Building 101 to fill it up.’
Having a large number of people was a strength in itself. Hadn’t China, the neighboring country, proven that?
‘But that also causes a lot of problems. I heard that China is also having problems because of its large population.’
Especially since the population was concentrated in the cities, they were having a lot of trouble during this crisis. India, which lacked infrastructure, was already close to being in a state of collapse.
Well, it wasn’t something Lee Yebin needed to worry about.
She sent Woo Taehyun away and had a secret meeting with Kang Sanggi. She tried to seduce Kang Sanggi using her ability to the fullest to get food, but… she failed. The ability worked. It was just that Building 103 didn’t have any food.
“W-what do you mean you don’t have any food?! What are you talking about?!”
“The parasite bastard sprayed his piss and shit all over the food storage. All the canned goods and everything were opened, so they rotted.”
“Why are you telling me this now?!”
“If we said we didn’t have any food, you guys would look down on us. Especially Building 101. We can’t be looked down on by those bastards.”
“Ha, haha….”
“So, I was wondering… how about we join forces? You, the representative of Building 102, and me, the representative of Building 103, get married. A marriage alliance. Isn’t that a very long-standing tradition? If we join forces, Building 101 will be nothing.”
Kang Sanggi subtly reached out to Lee Yebin. Lee Yebin coldly slapped his hand away.
“Where do you think you’re touching? You’re just an old man with nothing!!”
“O-old man? You bitch! You’re the one who seduced me first!”
“Ha, I didn’t know you were an old man with nothing. You don’t have any food? Good. Building 103 can starve to death on its own. If Building 103 is gone, we can survive with the reduced food supply. Go write your will and kill yourself!”
“You bitch!”
Kang Sanggi exploded in anger and stood up. But it was already too late. Lee Yebin had already gone outside.
This was Building 102. Even if there was a commotion, the enemies would gather here first. Kang Sanggi gritted his teeth and returned to Building 103.
• • •
I had underestimated Saetbyeol Apartment.
Even though they had started the parasite execution vote, I had expected that only about 10 people would die at most. But the next day, I heard the news that 50 people had been executed.
Morning, noon, and evening.
They killed people by voting whenever they had the time. It was a truly democratic method. People couldn’t contact the outside world either. Lee Yebin had the communication devices. Lee Yebin also managed the small generator. But they couldn’t refuse to vote either. Those who refused to vote were branded as parasites.
‘Out of 50 people, 5 were parasites. 10%. It’s just a simple calculation, but… maybe more than 10% of the apartment residents are parasites.’
